History ScrewedByTheLawyers / Film

* ''The Beaver Trilogy'' is an anthology of three short films telling loosely the same story (one documentary and two adaptations of it using actors), all of which center around a drag performance of "Please Don't Keep Me Waiting" by Olivia Newton John. It has limited availability due to rights issues relating to the use of the song, which is considered too crucial to the film to be removed or replaced. At first the only way to see the film was at festivals and other screenings; As of 2020, its director, Trent Harris, is selling [=DVDs=] through his official website, but any wider home-viewing release is unlikely for the same reason.

* ''The Beaver Trilogy'' is an anthology of three short films telling loosely the same story (one documentary and two adaptations of it using actors), all of which center around a drag performance of "Please Don't Keep Me Waiting" by Olivia Newton John. It has limited availability due to rights issues relating to the use of the song. At first the only way to see the film was at festivals and other screenings; As of 2020, its director, Trent Harris, is selling DVDs through his official website, but any wider home-viewing release is unlikely for the same reason.

* Ever wondered why ''Film/StarTrek2009'' was a soft reboot? It was largely due to the 2006 split between CBS and Viacom, the latter the parent company of Paramount which prior to the split owned the rights to ''Franchise/StarTrek''. The split led to Viacom keeping Paramount's film properties while CBS retained the studio's TV properties, including ''Star Trek'', whose film rights were subsequently licensed to Paramount. This meant that Paramount received no profits from merchandise that didn't feature concepts originating from the films, which is why all the Kelvin Timeline designs got tweaked ''just enough'' that they can make distinct merchandise of it (even in cases where it doesn't make much sense for the design to be different, like the Klingons). However, in December 2019, Viacom and CBS remerged, meaning that Paramount now owns ''Star Trek'' completely.

* ''Disney/RalphBreaksTheInternet'':
** Creator/{{Universal}}'s acquisition of the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' movie rights resulted in Mario getting removed from the final product despite prior rumors that he would appear in the film with a crucial role (a fate that was shared with Bowser, who had previously appeared in predecessor film ''Disney/WreckItRalph''). Mario was previously excluded from ''Wreck-It Ralph'', but this trope was ''not'' the reason why; WordOfGod says that Nintendo was all for them including Mario, but that the writers couldn't find a way to incorporate him that didn't end up turning the film into essentially a full-blown Mario adaptation. To make up for Mario and Bowser's absence, an EasterEgg showed up where a stack of yellow question mark blocks -- complete with the 8-bit look of the mark -- were shown in the background of Spamley's shack.

* ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'' was nearly lost forever after the studio was sued by Bram Stoker's estate for its similarities to ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''. It continued to be screened underground for decades, including by Creator/WaltDisney himself as an inspiration for his ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', before finally receiving its first official release in 1972 as part of Creator/{{PBS}}'s ''Film Odyssey'', a 26-episode anthology of films from the Janus collection.

* After Creator/RobinWilliams's death, Disney began arranging plans for a live-action Genie prequel as an origin story to ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', but it got locked away thanks to a clause in Robin Williams's will. His estate informed the company the clause bars any further usage of voice recordings and likenesses that had not been already made available to the public for 25 years after his death, meaning Disney cannot move forward with using Williams's likeness until August 11, 2039. Disney also had plans to make a third sequel with unused Robin Williams recordings, but it ended up being scrapped for the same reason.

** The main caveat with the film rights when Marvel sold them was basically "use it or lose it", meaning that if certain film rights aren't used, they would revert back to Marvel[[note]] A notorious example of this is Creator/NewLineCinema's ''Film/BladeTrilogy'', based off Marvel's ''ComicBook/{{Blade}}'' franchise. Creator/WesleySnipes' three-year prison sentence for [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor tax evasion]] led to Marvel Comics yanking the film rights from New Line/Creator/WarnerBros due to the studios being deemed unable to pull off a fourth film on time without Snipes[[/note]]. Thus, Fox is rushing out ''X-Men'' films in rapid succession to keep the film rights away from Marvel, while Sony has decided to share the rights to ''Spider-Man'' with Marvel in hopes that they will be able to make more profits off the character than they did doing it alone; conversely, they both gave up entirely on Ghost Rider and Daredevil due to their box office weakness under their tenure[[note]]In a similar vein, Creator/LionsGate gave up on ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' after their ''third'' attempt at starting a franchise, ''Film/PunisherWarZone'', flopped[[/note]]. The whole rights debacle is also the main reason why the ''Spider-Man'' movies [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan were rebooted]] [[note]]Sony wanted a new ''Spider-Man'' movie out the door as quickly as possible before the rights expired, but Creator/SamRaimi rejected the scripts he was presented and left, taking Creator/TobeyMaguire with him, forcing Sony to hastily start anew to prevent the lapsing, to extremely unfavorable reactions.[[/note]], and after the [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2 sequel]] somewhat flopped they struck the aforementioned deal with Marvel. As for the ''Fantastic Four'', Fox hoped to get it right [[Film/FantasticFour2015 a second time]] to justify keeping the rights away from Marvel, but it ended up receiving the worst reception of any Marvel superhero movie.

* Ever wondered why ''Film/StarTrek2009'' was a soft reboot? It was because Paramount doesn't own the merchandising rights to any of the non-film ''Franchise/StarTrek'' material; they're owned by CBS. This means Paramount receives no profits from merchandise that doesn't feature concepts originating from the films, which is why all the Kelvin Timeline designs get tweaked ''just enough'' that they can make distinct merchandise of it (even in cases where it doesn't make much sense for the design to be different, like the Klingons). Anyone hoping for another ''Next Generation'' movie... don't hold your breath, especially with the upcoming ''Picard'' continuing TNG's storyline.

* ''Film/LetItBe'': Observers have said that the film is unlikely to be rereleased as long as Music/PaulMcCartney and Music/RingoStarr are still alive, due to its unflattering and downright painful look at the slow collapse and eventual breakup of Music/TheBeatles.
* ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'' was nearly lost forever after the studio was sued by Bram Stoker's estate for its similarities to ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''.

* Ever wondered why ''Film/StarTrek2009'' was a soft reboot? It was because Paramount doesn't own the merchandising rights to any of the non-film ''Franchise/StarTrek'' material; they're owned by CBS. This means Paramount receives no profits from merchandise that doesn't feature concepts originating from the films, which is why all the Kelvin Timeline designs get tweaked ''just enough'' that they can make distinct merchandise of it (even in cases where it doesn't make much sense for the design to be different, like the Klingons). Anyone hoping for another ''Next Generation'' movie... don't hold your breath, especially with the upcoming ''Picard'' continuing TNG's storyline.
* This trope is an interesting reason for the unique Bat-shield on Batman's costume in ''Film/Batman1989''. At the time of the movie's making, Warner Bros. did not own DC Comics nor its assets, thus the standard Bat-shield was modified to include two protrusions on its legs.
** Actually, DC Comics was purchased by Kinney National Co. (later Warner Communications Inc.) in 1967, so the movie bat-symbol is unlikely to be an example of this trope.

* This trope is an interesting reason for the unique Bat-shield on Batman's costume in ''Film/Batman1989''. At the time of the movie's making, Warner Bros. did not own DC Comics nor its assets, thus the standard Bat-shield was modified to include two protrusions on its legs.

** Oddly, the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' franchise was also tied up with movie rights issues, with Creator/{{Paramount}} producing a [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2019 feature film]] at the time, but Disney was able to make some sort of deal with Paramount and Sega in which Sonic and Dr. Eggman, both of whom appeared in the previous film, could appear again in much more limited roles. This arrangement was similar to the one Sega and Paramount made with Creator/WarnerBros in regards to Sonic's appearance in ''[[Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018 Ready Player One]]''.

* Ever wondered why ''Film/StarTrek2009'' was a soft reboot? It was because Paramount doesn't own the merchandising rights to any of the non-film ''Franchise/StarTrek'' material; they're owned by CBS. This means Paramount receives no profits from merchandise that doesn't feature concepts originating from the films, which is why all the Kelvin Timeline designs get tweaked ''just enough'' that they can make distinct merchandise of it (even in cases where it doesn't make much sense for the design to be different, like the Klingons). Anyone hoping for another ''Next Generation'' movie... don't hold your breath.

*** On August 20, 2019, it was revealed that a dispute over co-financing and producer credits have jettisoned Spider-Man out of the MCU.

* For over two decades, Creator/{{Nintendo}} has had a strict policy of refusing to allow any of their video game franchises to be adapted into films or film series. This was enforced after the LiveActionAdaptation of ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' became a catastrophic flop with both fans and critics. This policy caused a proposed film adaptation of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' to be scrapped, as well as the aforementioned ''Zelda'' fan film[[note]]This even applied to ''[[ParallelPornTitles porn parodies]]'': Nintendo bought the rights to the two ''Super Hornio Brothers'' movies to ensure they wouldn't be re-released. Copies of the two movies are therefore very rare.[[/note]]. However, beginning in late 2014, Nintendo might be relaxing this policy. [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/sony-nintendo-mario-bros-movie Leaked emails]] stolen from Sony Pictures as part of a cyber attack against the studio revealed that the studio was in negotiations with Nintendo to acquire the film rights to ''Mario'' and adapt the franchise into an AnimatedAdaptation, with ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' producer Avi Arad spearheading it. If the negotiations hold up, this would be the first time a Nintendo franchise outside the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series has ever been adapted into a film since the live-action ''Mario'' film of 1993 in the West or the ''Anime/AnimalCrossing'' anime film of 2006 in Japan. Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto [[WordOfGod himself]] [[http://fortune.com/2015/08/21/nintendo-movie-partnerships/ hinted]] such reconsideration.

* With all of the above, it's gratifying to find that this trope comes into play, but ''against'' major studios at least twice in regards to very popular movies: both ''{{Film/Charade}}'' and ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' both fell into the public domain immediately upon release. In both cases, it was because the studios only placed the date of publication and the copyright holder, [[IdiotBall and not the clear assertion of copyright]] ("Copyright", "Copr." "(C)" or the like) as was necessary under the copyright statutes before 1989.

* ''Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story'' was a [[BlackComedy sardonic]] biopic by Creator/ToddHaynes about [[Music/{{Carpenters}} Karen Carpenter's]] rise and bulimia-related death, with the additional gimmick that the Carpenters were represented by Franchise/{{Barbie}} dolls. Due to the angry lawsuits from Karen Carpenter's estate and Mattel, the movie will be unlikely to be screened legally again.
* In a rare example of an actor being forced into servitude by a film studio (after the end of the contract player era), Creator/MikeMyers withdrew from a proposed adaptation of his ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch ''Sprockets'' due to OldShame of a script he wrote for the film. This pissed off Creator/{{Universal}} so much that they sued him a year later for failure to abide with the contract he signed with them. He tried to countersue, but a settlement was eventually reached in which he was required to work on a different project for them. After Creator/TimAllen withdrew from playing the title role for the LiveActionAdaptation of ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'', Myers was eventually brought in. This event, along with his reputation of being non-cooperative on set, contributed to his eventual downfall.

** This created a Catch-22: When Marvel did regain a new property, it was usually because the property's reputation had been too badly tarnished by the previous studio to continue making sequels. After ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'' did poor business at the box office (which many blamed on the [[Film/{{Hulk}} previous]] adaptation), Marvel decided not to rush out and try to integrate these properties right away, instead opting to focus on newer characters like ComicBook/BlackPanther, ComicBook/TheInhumans, and [[ComicBook/CarolDanvers Captain Marvel]]. This is why Daredevil was relegated to a Creator/{{Netflix}} [[Series/Daredevil2015 TV show]] instead of a full-fledged movie reboot (which turned out to be for the better, as it was greatly acclaimed on release), and why it's unlikely we'll be seeing ''Blade'' or ''The Punisher'' reboots anytime soon (The Punisher, however, is a major character in ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}''[='s=] second season, and eventually [[Series/ThePunisher2017 got his own show greenlit]].)

* ''Film/LetItBe''. Observers have said that the film won't likely be rereleased as long as Music/PaulMcCartney and Music/RingoStarr are still alive, due to its unflattering and downright painful look at the slow collapse and eventual breakup of Music/TheBeatles.

** ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}'' and ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'' introduced a SPECTRE {{expy}} named Quantum. And then, shockingly, the legal issues were resolved in 2013. This led to James Bond fighting SPECTRE once again in the 2015 film... ''Film/{{Spectre}}''. Quantum being a SPECTRE expy did not go uncommented in ''Spectre'', where they were retconned into a division of SPECTRE.

* Ever wondered why ''Film/StarTrek2009'' was a soft-reboot? It was because Paramount doesn't own the merchandising rights to any of the non-film ''Franchise/StarTrek'' material; they're owned by CBS. This means Paramount receives no profits from merchandise that doesn't feature concepts originating from the films, which is why all the Kelvin Timeline designs get tweaked ''just enough'' that they can make distinct merchandise of it (even in cases where it doesn't make much sense for the design to be different, like the Klingons). Anyone hoping for another ''Next Generation'' movie... don't hold your breath.

** In 1997, [=McClory=] announced that, in partnership with Sony Pictures, would remake ''Thunderball'' again, this time under the title of ''Warhead 2000'', with former Bond actor Creator/TimothyDalton being considered to play 007, which would launch a rival Bond series. MGM (UA's successor) sued Sony over the decision, leaving the latter to give up on the property. MGM would subsequently acquire all rights to ''Never Say Never Again'' in 1997, as well as the rights to the novel ''Literature/CasinoRoyale'' and its [[''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}''

** In 1997, [=McClory=] announced that, in partnership with Sony Pictures, would remake ''Thunderball'' again, this time under the title of ''Warhead 2000'', with former Bond actor Creator/TimothyDalton being considered to play 007, which would launch a rival Bond series. MGM (UA's successor) sued Sony over the decision, leaving the latter to give up on the property. Ironically, Sony got MGM to give them the film rights to ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' as a trade-off.

* The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse was a big victim of this, being a [[TheVerse shared universe]] for a handful of cinematic characters adapted from a [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse shared universe]] for ''[[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters hundreds]]'' of comic book characters, many of whose film rights Marvel sold off to other studios before they decided to make their own movies.

** The reasons for this was because due of the way Marvel Studios operated back before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was conceptualized, where they had to sell off the film rights of many of their characters to other studios like Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, who gained the rights to the Franchise/XMen and Franchise/FantasticFour, and Universal Pictures, who gained the rights to the Hulk.

* The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse is a big victim of this, being a [[TheVerse shared universe]] for a handful of cinematic characters adapted from a [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse shared universe]] for ''[[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters hundreds]]'' of comic book characters.

** Creator/{{Universal}}'s acquisition of the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' movie rights resulted in Mario getting removed from the final product despite prior rumors that he would appear in the film with a crucial role (a fate that was shared with Bowser, who had previously appeared in predecessor film ''Disney/WreckItRalph''). Mario was previously excluded from ''Wreck-It Ralph'', but this trope was ''not'' the reason why; WordOfGod says that Nintendo was all for them including Mario, but that the writers couldn't find a way to incorporate him that didn't end up turning the film into essentially a full-blown Mario adaptation. To make up for Mario and Bowser's absence, an EasterEgg showed up where a stack of yellow question mark blocks, complete with the 8-bit look of the mark, were shown in the background of Spamley's shack.

* For over two decades, Creator/{{Nintendo}} has had a strict policy of refusing to allow any of their video game franchises be adapted into films or film series. This was enforced after the LiveActionAdaptation of ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' became a catastrophic flop with both fans and critics. This policy caused a proposed film adaptation of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' to be scrapped, as well as the aforementioned ''Zelda'' fan film[[note]]This even applied to ''[[ParallelPornTitles porn parodies]]'': Nintendo bought the rights to the two ''Super Hornio Brothers'' movies to ensure they wouldn't be re-released. Copies of the two movies are therefore very rare.[[/note]]. However, beginning in late 2014, Nintendo might be relaxing this policy. [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/sony-nintendo-mario-bros-movie Leaked emails]] stolen from Sony Pictures as part of a cyber attack against the studio revealed that the studio was in negotiations with Nintendo to acquire the film rights to ''Mario'' and adapt the franchise into an AnimatedAdaptation, with ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' producer Avi Arad spearheading it. If the negotiations hold up, this would be the first time a Nintendo franchise outside the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series has ever been adapted into a film since the live-action ''Mario'' film of 1993 in the West or the ''Anime/AnimalCrossing'' anime film of 2006 in Japan. Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto [[WordOfGod himself]] [[http://fortune.com/2015/08/21/nintendo-movie-partnerships/ hinted]] such reconsideration.

* This trope affected the Website/{{Kickstarter}}-funded HD Restoration of ''Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate''. In 2011, Ben Solovey started up a Kickstarter to restore the movie after he discovered that he ended up buying the original 16mm print of the film. With the blessing of Tom Neyman and his daughter Jackie Neyman Jones (who played The Master and little Debbie respectively), Solovey worked on the restoration. However, Joe Warren, son of writer, director and actor Harold P. Warren, was angry at being left out and attempted to assert copyright on the film. Just one catch: Hal copyrighted the script, then called "Lodge of Sins". [[IdiotBall He didn't copyright the actual movie]], essentially making the movie a Public Domain film. The movie was ultimately released by Synapse Films on October 15, 2015 and the restored print now resides in cold storage in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive.

* This trope is the reason why Princess Giselle from ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' is not an official Franchise/DisneyPrincess. In order to include her in the line-up, Disney would have to secure lifelong rights to the likeness of her actress, Creator/AmyAdams.

* This trope is the reason why Princess Giselle from ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' is not an official Franchise/DisneyPrincess. In order to include her in the line-up, Disney would have to secure lifelong rights to the use of her actress, Creator/AmyAdams.

** As of December 2017, All Marvel properties and characters can interact with each other within the MCU. Despite this, The only characters and franchises Marvel still have legal trouble with are ComicBook/IncredibleHulk, which they don't have the distribution rights to, and Franchise/SpiderMan, which is just being shared between them and Sony.

* A sequel to the well-received ''Film/MasterAndCommander'' would be possible if the rights weren't tied up with '''three''' different studios, specifically Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox (soon to be bought by Creator/{{Disney}}), Creator/MiramaxFilms (at the time owned by Disney until it was sold in 2010), and Creator/{{Universal}} (now owned by Disney rival Comcast).

* For over two decades, Creator/{{Nintendo}} has had a strict policy of refusing to allow any of their video game franchises be adapted into films or film series. This was enforced after the LiveActionAdaptation of ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' became a catastrophic flop with both fans and critics. This policy caused a proposed film adaptation of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' to be scrapped, as well as the aforementioned ''Zelda'' fan film. However, beginning in late 2014, Nintendo might be relaxing this policy. [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/sony-nintendo-mario-bros-movie Leaked emails]] stolen from Sony Pictures as part of a cyber attack against the studio revealed that the studio was in negotiations with Nintendo to acquire the film rights to ''Mario'' and adapt the franchise into an AnimatedAdaptation, with ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' producer Avi Arad spearheading it. If the negotiations hold up, this would be the first time a Nintendo franchise outside the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series has ever been adapted into a film since the live-action ''Mario'' film of 1993 in the West or the ''Anime/AnimalCrossing'' anime film of 2006 in Japan. Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto [[WordOfGod himself]] [[http://fortune.com/2015/08/21/nintendo-movie-partnerships/ hinted]] such reconsideration. This even applies to ''[[ParallelPornTitles porn parodies]]'': Nintendo bought the rights to the two ''Super Hornio Brothers'' movies to ensure they wouldn't be re-released. Copies of the two movies are therefore very rare.

* The best Mario Bava, ''Film/RabidDogs'', is the one he himself never lived to see. The reason? The producer died as production was nearing completion, and his creditors, taking advantage of it, froze his assets and seized the film for over two decades. Owing to the circumstances, a UsefulNotes/{{Conspiracy Theor|ies}}y exists where the creditors put a contract out on the producer just to screw Bava's greatest masterpiece over.

* This trope is an interesting reason for the unique Bat-shield on Batman's costume in ''Film/{{Batman}}''. At the time of the movie's making, Warner Bros. did not own DC Comics nor its assets, thus the standard Bat-shield was modified to include two protrusions on its legs.

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